Botkins’ Eli Pitts scored 13 points as part of a balanced scoring effort that helped lead the Trojans back to the district finals to face Miami Valley Christian Academy. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Logan Howard)
Botkins moves on to a Division VII district final playing the way it likes to play while learning it can’t deviate from that plan in March if it wants to continue to survive and advance.
Piqua, OH – From afar, Botkins’ recent scoring outbursts are a Trojan horse, created to convince upcoming, faraway, and increasingly more difficult tournament foes that high-powered offense is their domain.
The ploy, if anyone one buys it, is that the Trojans are more interested in offense than defense. Look at the numbers.
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The Trojans have set season scoring highs in their three most recent games. They hung 75 on Lima Central Catholic. Then 79 with a second-half running clock on far outmanned Dayton Jefferson.
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes the OHSAA and Ohio State sports for Press Pros Magazine.com. Follow on X @jw_gilbert
On Tuesday night at Piqua High School, the second-seeded Trojans rode all over Springfield Catholic Central to an 82-55 victory in a Division VII district semifinal.
Botkins (21-3) returns to the district finals at 3 p.m. Saturday, presumably against Miami Valley Christian Academy of Cincinnati. The Lions (18-4) are the No. 1 seed in the southern half of the Southwest District and are heavily favored against Spencer Center on Wednesday.
If the Lions scouted the Trojans on Tuesday night, they won’t be fooled. They saw a team force 14 first-half turnovers, turn defense into offense at a faster and fastest pace for big scoring runs that resulted in a 46-24 halftime lead.
Botkins’ Owen Zimpfer played through contact and scored 13 points.
“When we’re at our best, our defense can generate offense for us,” Botkins coach Phil Groves said. “The intensity and level of energy we’re playing at when we’re playing at a fast pace makes us a better team.”
But … there’s often a but with a coach even after a 27-point victory. But the but was justified. Central (10-14), with all-Ohio Heritage Conference players Keegan Guenther and Berkeley Little not ready to concede their senior season, made some little runs and cut Botkins’ lead under 20 more than once.
Groves called it his team’s worst defensive sequence of the season.
“Got a little complacent there in the second half and got too relaxed,” Groves said. “Giving up 55 points tonight was entirely too much on the defensive end.”
Up 20 going to the fourth, the Trojans remembered defense is their bailiwick. And soon the lead was headed back toward 30.
Groves’ players got the message. Nothing new. Just a reminder to be who they are so they can be at their best as the tournament marches on.
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“We got too comfortable,” junior Eli Pitts said. “I think we need to stay on the gas pedal and just keep working hard. I thought we let up a little bit, and that’s on us for sure.”
Groves has scouted MVCA and says stout defense will be a necessity. The Lions have shooters and can attack the basket. Their abilities aren’t undercover, waiting to surprise anyone.
The Trojans just kept scoring. Tucker Huelskamp was good for 12 points.
Repeating any part of Tuesday’s third quarter, it seems, must be avoided to make it back to regionals where the Trojans’ season ended in last year’s final against state champion Russia.
“Can’t happen,” Groves said. “Great teams don’t let that happen. This Saturday is going to be a challenge. MVCA is a very, very explosive offensive team. We’re going to have to defend off the bounce and communicate and rebound the first shot.”
When the Trojans did those things against Central, the offense flowed and points came in bunches from everyone, mostly on shots going toward the rim. You could confidently balance an egg on the Trojans scoring line: Tucker Huelskamp 12 – Pitts 13 – Will Monnin 14 – Owen Zimpfer 13 – Brayden Welsh 12.
The unexpected source that brought the final piece of balance was sixth man Brayden Welsh. He scored all of his points in first half, nine of them in the second quarter when Pitts sat with two fouls. Welsh made three of the Trojans’ four 3-pointers. Six non-starters scored.
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“I knew my teammates can do that,” Pitts said. “I’ve been playing with them all year. I have so much confidence in my teammates. If one man goes down, next man up, that’s our motto.”
Sixth-man Brayden Welsh filled his role with 12 points in the first half.
That and one game at a time, which matters this time of year more than ever. And one quarter at a time for four quarters every night.
Pitts agrees “100 percent.”
“I don’t think we should underestimate anybody,” he said. “We need to bring our stuff every night and continue getting better.”
Groves will be reminding his team of that the next three days as they prepare for the district final. If dangerous opponents haven’t been in front of you yet, this is the stage it begins.
“If we play defense at a high level, we defend at a high level and rebound the first shot, we can compete with anyone,” Groves said. “But if we don’t do that, then we can get beat by anyone.”
Redskins Can’t Stop Cedarville’s Final Shot
Fort Loramie wasn’t afraid of the No. 1 seed in its district semifinal. The Redskins (10-15) prepare for teams like Cedarville (21-3) playing the Shelby County League schedule and nonconference games against Midwest Athletic Conference teams.
Cedarville’s Nate Van Loo found the left side of the bucket to his liking for eight of his 13 points.
The Redskins led most of the game, never by more than seven (for a moment in the first quarter) and responded to losing the lead in the fourth quarter. The timeliest response came with 15 seconds left.
The Redskins trailed by one and ran offense for 30 seconds before calling timeout with 25 seconds left. The play coach Mitch Westerheide called worked perfectly.
Ean Grillot executed a perfect back cut, caught a pass from D.J. Barhorst and made a layup for a one-point lead with 15 seconds left.
“We put this set in probably midway through the year, and it’s probably one of the better ones we’ve been executing and it’s a long developing set,” Westerheide said.
But Cedarville didn’t panic. And didn’t call a timeout. Coach Ryan Godlove had already called a play in the previous timeout.
The Indians put the ball in senior point guard Nate Van Loo’s hands, ran a play for the right-hander to go to his favorite side – the left side – and he scored the winning layup between two Redskins with three seconds left for a 45-44 victory.
“I told them that if we get the ball and we’ve got enough time, just go into it,” Godlove said. “I just kept an eye to see if we could get downhill, see if we get into the action we wanted to get into, and I felt like it was there. I just trusted the guys that they’d make the play.”
Westerheide, of course, had one regret.
“Wish I would have told him to wait five more seconds,” he said of Grillot’s go-ahead basket. “But credit to our guys for executing. Credit to Cedarville for coming down and making that tough shot. That’s why they won 21 games – they execute in crunch time. And the Van Loo kid stepped up. Credit to him.”
Barhorst scored 14 points and Grillot 11 to lead the Redskins. After Cedarville gained the lead in the fourth quarter, Barhorst kept his team in the game. He tied the score at 37 with a 3-pointer and gained the lead at 40-39 with another one with 4:12 left.
Fort Loramie’s Landen Drees blocks a shot during the second half that helped give the Redskins a chance.
“We told him in the huddle as his coaches, ‘Hey, we’re running this for you, man,’” Westerheide said. “So just be ready. If you’re open fire it. If not, let’s just run our stuff. And he saw daylight. He’s done it in practice over and over again, so he knows how to get his footwork down. Credit to him for stepping up and making those big shots to keep us in the game.”
Defense fueled Loramie to a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, forcing five turnovers. But points were hard to come by after that as Cedarville settled down on offense, played defense and rebounded almost every Fort Loramie miss.
The Indians made only 6 of 16 shots in the first half, but they rallied with better shot selection and patience to get to the rim. Van Loo led with 13 points, mostly on the those left-side drives he loves, and Brayden Trimbach scored 10.
In the second half, the Indians made 10 of 18 shots and all five of their two-point attempts in the fourth quarter.
And the Redskins made sure the Indians needed every one of them.
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